Lowes in talks over leading Trinity's relegation fight

James Lowes will follow Wakefield's crucial home game against Bradford from the south of France tonight pondering the opportunity to take over as Trinity's coach.

The former Bradford and Great Britain hooker has taken charge of Salford for their game against the Catalans Dragons in Narbonne tomorrow because Karl Harrison, whom he normally assists, was unable to fly after rupturing his achilles in a charity football match last weekend. But Lowes could become a long-term head coach himself next week, with Salford's director of football Steve Simms confirming yesterday that Wakefield have asked permission to speak to him about their coaching vacancy after the dismissal of Tony Smith.

"They rung me up for permission to speak to him and I said they could," said Simms. "Jimmy told me then that he wanted to stay. But we wouldn't stand in his way."

Wakefield's players could make the coaching job at Belle Vue a good deal more attractive for Lowes by surprising Bradford tonight. They are two points adrift of Wigan, their nearest relegation rivals, but David Solomona, the New Zealand second-row who has been a shining light all season, remains upbeat.

"There are still seven points to go and 14 points up for grabs," he said. "If we win this week we're one point away from a lot of teams. Players are playing for their livelihood but that's life, that's football over here in England."

Bradford, comfortably placed in the top four despite patchy recent form, will be boosted by the return of Marcus Bai and Matthew Cook from injury, although Ben Harris and Mick Withers are out.

"It is a dangerous game for us," said their coach Steve McNamara, who as a player had a brief and unhappy stint at Wakefield which ended in litigation as he and several team-mates tried to retrieve unpaid wages. "The results haven't really gone their way lately but we are viewing them as a dangerous side to play against."